Investigation in the 2006 Malegaon blast, for which nine Muslims were arrested, was “unfair” and justice needs to be done in the case, Union Minister of Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid said February 20. “It is very clear that injustice has happened. Hundred per cent foolproof investigations are not possible in any case. Many people are arrested during investigation, brought before court and some of them are set free. But repeatedly targeting “some people” is unfair,” Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of a conference organised by an Urdu news channel in Mumbai.“Subsequent developments indicate that review and rethinking is necessary in the case,” he said, apparently referring to the names of right groups cropping up in the bomb attack.

Khurshid said that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was in touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily to take the case to its logical conclusion. “Union Home Minister is looking after the matter, Chief Minister is in touch with the Home Minister, and Home Minister is in contact with the Union Law Minister over the issue,” he said. Speaking at the conference, Chavan said that the Malegaon blast, in which 36 people were killed and several others injured on September 8, 2006 in the powerloom town in Nasik district, was a painful chapter in Maharashtra’s history.